Ensure Child Actors are Paid for Their Work

 

The purpose of this act is to ensure that the Child Actors of Minnesota are paid for their time and labor and to ensure

the young actors are protected. In order to make sure children receive payment a "Coogan Account" will be set up and 30%

of their wages shall be put into a trusted account they cannot access until they are considered a legal adult.

 

Due to the unique circumstances of employees who are under 18, child actors are the most at risk of having their

finances stolen by their parent/guardian(s). Oftentimes such money will be spent on luxury goods rather than items and

services necessary for the child actor's development and future. Macaulay Culkin, a former child actor, sued his parents

due to them stealing his money in a custody dispute, this would lead to the, at the time, 15-year-old boy, to remove his

parents as his legal guardians so they could no longer steal his money. Another case was Shirley Temple who made $250

weekly, but she only had $44,000 in her account compared to the $3.2 Million she should have earned during her career as

a child actor. Finally, Mischa Barton's mother, Nuala Barton, lied about her daughter's income and pocketed the money,

using it to buy $7.7 million house.

 

Child Actor: A person under the age of 18 who makes or acts in any form of entertainment that is published and makes

some form of monetary gain.

Entertainment: Something that brings joy to the viewer and promotes engagement with the media they are exposed to and

makes some form of monetary gain.

Coogan Account: A trusted account that stores 30% of the child stars wages and cannot be accessed by the child actor or

their legal guardians until the child actor is a legal adult.

Legal Adult: A person over the age of 18 and can no longer considered a dependent.

Dependent: An individual who needs someone else for financial advice

 

This act shall receive $200,000 dollars in initial funding from the internal Department of Labor funding.

 

If a parent does not set up a Coogan Account for the child that is making or acting in entertainment the parent will

receive a fine of $100 per violation. All the penalties gathered shall be split in half. One half goes to the child's

Coogan account, and the other half goes into helping enforce this act. This act shall be enforced primarily by the

Minnesota Department of Labor.

 

This act shall go into effect in January 1, 2027